


The Don'ts Of Dating (And How They Can Win You A Man)

by Mozzarella



Category: Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cosmopolitan, Dating, First Dates, Identity Porn, Identity Reveal, M/M, Meet-Cute, Paparazzi, Press and Tabloids, Secret Identity, Tabloids, The Magazine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 12:30:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18778333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mozzarella/pseuds/Mozzarella
Summary: In which Steve Rogers fills in the Don't column of "Cosmo's Dos and Dont's of Dating" and somehow makes it work, while Tony Stark marvels at the fact that he's picking this weird (yet unbearably sweet) artist from Brooklyn over Captain Goddamn America.AU where Tony is known as Iron Man but Cap's identity is secret even to the other Avengers.





	The Don'ts Of Dating (And How They Can Win You A Man)

**Author's Note:**

> For the Cap-Iron Man Reverse Bang! Art by the indomitable acachette on Tumblr! No warnings except for some cussing ;P

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/160239946@N03/33925555588/in/dateposted/)

[by acachette](https://acachette.tumblr.com)

Tony Stark prided himself on being a smart man. A genius, in fact.

“You’re the stupidest genius I’ve ever met. No, wait, that’s Reed Richards. But Sue’s always there to help him through his stupid, so it’s not nearly as bad as your stupid.”

That had been the way Jan had described it, and really, Tony couldn’t blame her.

Because, genius as he was, it took him a full five minutes to think of looking at the handwritten cards attached to the roomful of gifts he’d been given to confirm that—yes, it was indeed Steve Rogers who’d sent him flowers and chocolates and an oversized bear that loomed over him like a plush version of the Hulk.

Steve Rogers, who up until a few weeks ago, he hadn’t even known existed, until he’d literally run into him on the street.

 

* * *

 

 “Shit.”

“Bright side,” Tony said stiffly, taking his soaked shades off before tackling his equally soaked tie and blazer, “is that it wasn’t steaming, so I don’t have to deal with third degree burns on top of coffee stains.”

“Fuck. Oh, f—I’m so sorry.”

A large hand dabbed at Tony’s shirt with that huge, wasteful bundle of tissues baristas would usually dole out, for once actually having a purpose beyond one or two sheets being utilized for a sweating iced drink or a tiny spill. Tony looked up, bemused at how many times he heard the words “sorry” and “shit” and “fuck” in the span of thirty seconds, and kept looking up at he was met with the expanse of muscle and the gorgeous face at the end of his journey, scrunched up with concern and regret.

Well, fuck. The guy was gorgeous, and if Tony played his cards right, this’d be a meet-cute of Hollywood proportions and he could have a blond supermodel’s name and number to make up for the loss of halfway decent clothing.

He was much better off at the back end of twenty napkins, but his well-loved band shirt needed drying and his blazer wasn’t salvageable, off to the wash and then Goodwill, if his stylist had anything to say about it.

And the guy—Steve Rogers, he introduced with trepidation—turned out exactly the opposite of what Tony was expecting. Maybe he was being uncharitable, but usually, blonds this big and square-jawed and chisel-featured fell into two categories: dumb and pretty but ultimately well-meaning, or perfectly aware of their finer features and all the more of an asshole for it.

And usually, both types would’ve picked up on having spilled coffee all over Tony Stark, who was well known more for being a billionaire and playboy, and more recently superhero, than he was known for being a philanthropist. His being a genius inventor usually only seemed to score points outside of the shallower circles he ran with way back when.

Right now, he was being charmed by the fact that Steve Rogers was telling him about old buildings, art, and architecture, the way most people talked about their favorite films, TV series, sports teams.

“And that building, the… Stark, Avengers, whatever building. It’s great and all, but it really does ruin the skyline, doesn’t it?”

Tony perked up, looking challenging and waiting for Steve to acknowledge that it was his building he was now giving the shaft. Did he really not know?

“I think it looks alright. Kind of adds to the modernity. At least it’s not just a shiny rectangle.”

“It looks like a llama head,” Steve shot back, and Tony froze.

Well, shit. He was right.

 

* * *

 

 Now if there were ever the stereotypical epitome of “bohemian Brooklyn boy artist” coming straight out of the open air roasters of Williamsburg, it wouldn’t have quite been Steve, at least not at first glance. It wasn’t until you got him going about how Brooklyn _used_ to look like, how certain areas had been preserved but others changed, _but at least it wasn’t as ugly and shiny and chrome as Manhattan,_ that Tony really caught sight of the Brooklyn boy Steve Rogers was.

He even wore clothes like he was from the forties, sometimes, his hair styled like he’d walked out of a $1 postcard featuring the boroughs in the Good Old Days.

A few days after the coffee incident, which Tony marked as much for the look on Steve’s face when he realized exactly who he was, Tony found himself in the Avengers’ common room in the tower, where the only soul hanging about while everyone else had fun outdoors was Cap, fully suited as always. Tony startled the big bruiser when he came up behind him and found him flipping through… was that a Cosmo?

“Oh! Shellhead. I didn’t know you were coming in today,” Cap said in what Tony called his _I am Captain America, hear my speech_ voice. Tony gave him A Look, to which the perpetually masked hero sighed.

“Mister Stark,” he began, only to get a much less impressed Look. “Tony.”

“See, now was that so hard?” Tony huffed, plopping down in the seat next to him, knees bumping in a way that made the man green around the gills. Tony knew Cap didn’t like him all that much, even if he was too nice and too forties manners to say it, but at least he’d gotten the guy to call him Tony out of the suit.

Not that Cap was ever out of the suit.

“Hot date?” Tony quipped, motioning to the Cosmopolitan magazine open to dating advice Cap had more or less given up trying to hide. Cap sighed, looking between Tony and the magazine like he couldn’t decide something.

“Well, yes,” Cap said, surprisingly warm. “I wanted to do it right. Make it special. It’s… well, I’ve messed up before, and I want to make it clear how I felt, but hopefully not go overboard.”

“Will wonders never cease? Cap’s actually got a social life! So, who’s the lucky gal?” Tony asked.

Cap’s face scrunched up in the most fascinating way then, and he coughed pointedly, though Tony had to look around the room to make sure he wasn’t missing anything.

“I’d rather not… you came in here to talk about something?” Cap said, changing the subject so fast Tony was worried he’d get whiplash.

“Subtle, Winghead. Well, I dunno. Ran into a guy a few days back. Artist type. Spilled coffee all over me, offered to buy me another one, insulted the building I designed and called it a giant llama head, which really, someone should’ve pointed that out sooner, found out I owned and designed said building, apologized for about ten minutes, then asked if we could meet up again, maybe coffee (because Brooklyn has All The Coffee Shops as long as they’re pretentious and independent and expensive), maybe dinner, and I can’t really stop thinking about it because I think he might have asked me on a date but probably not, right? Dinner isn’t automatically a date.”

Cap looked at him like he’d grown a second head. Or said about a hundred words in rapid succession without stopping.

“Tony, of course he asked you on a date,” Cap said blankly. Tony looked surprised, and the masked hero rolled his eyes. “If you’re going to ask me about my opinions on queer people, I lived in a building where drag queens and queer men and women made up the bulk of the tenants, and some of them even taught me how to draw. So please, don’t ask me like being from the forties makes me homophobic by default.”

“No, I was just hung up on you saying someone asked me on a date from that one sentence.”

Cap shrugged, looking nervous. “It was a long sentence.”

Tony narrowed his eyes, but said nothing of the expression as he sighed dramatically. “Well alright, Captain Know-It-All. So a cute blond with the charm of all of Brooklyn’s brownstones asks me on a date after we have one coffee even when I’m fairly sure he hated me and my architecture and probably for running into him. What do I do?”

Cap shrugged uneasily. “If you didn’t want to go on the date, why didn’t you just… refuse?”

Tony startled. “Who said I didn’t want to? God, Cap. The guy was adorable. And had the biggest biceps I’ve ever seen on a non-superhero, but somehow turned out to be a hipster artist instead of a ‘roided-up body-builder. He insulted my building then apologized for insulting me by extension, but not for insulting the building because he was going to stand by his opinion on how ugly it looks. I think I…” Tony breathed in deep, slumping against the back of the couch. “I think I really like him.”

Cap hesitantly tucked the magazine away, smiling in a way that lit up his whole face. He should smile like that more often. It made him look like sunshine and rainbows, when usually he looked somewhere between confused constipation and melancholic sadness.

“Then see how the first date goes,” Cap said wisely. “And go from there.”

 

* * *

 

 The first date was perfect. Too perfect, in a way that had Steve apologizing afterward.

The music was perfect, the location quaint but clearly carefully chosen, a corner table that Tony suspected had been reserved days in advance. He hadn’t been in the dating game for a little while now, but he was pretty sure that this was… too much for a first date. Too thoughtful, too sweet, too good.

He was waiting for the other shoe to drop throughout dinner. It didn’t help that Steve looked like he was waiting for the exact same thing.

At the end of some awkward sidestepping, with pleasant enough conversation that meant absolutely nothing, Steve looked defeated as he and Tony walked out of the restaurant.

“I ruined it,” he said quietly.

“Ruined—no, of course not, what makes you think that?” Tony said, in a tone he hoped was convincing enough but that he knew from Steve’s look wasn’t.

“Was it the wine? I wasn’t sure what would work, I don’t actually… drink that much, but the restaurant assured me—”

“Steve,” Tony interrupted, stunning him into silence. “If I’m… intimidating you into thinking you need to jump through hoops for me—”

“No!” Steve said immediately, but Tony held his hand up, gesturing for Steve to let him continue.

“Steve. I like you,” Tony said. “But I don’t want you to think I expect everything out of you just because I’m—” He gestured broadly.

“A genius billionaire playboy philanthropist?” Steve said, chuckling, his demeanor shifting to something much more easygoing. He turned fully to Tony, rubbing the back of his neck in a painfully endearing way.

“I’m not jumping through hoops for this,” Steve said, and laughed when Tony looked at him funny. “Okay, so maybe I am, but not because I’m intimidated by you. At least, not by your last name or the fact that it’s plastered on the side of a building in Manhattan.”

Tony didn’t interrupt him this time, listening intently as Steve turned fully to him, body language more open than it had been all night.

“I did this because I think you’re real special,” Steve admitted, blushing. “And I want this to be as special as you deserve. I like you a whole lot, and I wanted that to be something you knew for sure. But this didn’t go the way I’d hoped, I guess.”

“Might have something to do with you looking like you were scared I’d walk out since we got the appetizers,” Tony admitted, and Steve opened his mouth to apologize, which Tony stopped with a finger to his mouth, making that sweet blush on his pink cheeks deepen.

“Would it be too much to ask for another try?” Steve said after Tony was sure he wasn’t going to apologize again.

“Can’t wait,” Tony said honestly, hiding how big his smile got when Steve found the courage to lace their fingers together.

He couldn’t quite hide it when they parted ways, and Steve gave him a shy, chaste kiss on the cheek, keeping Tony giddy all the way up to the tower.

Cap found him still smiling when he came into the kitchen a little while later, his indoor practice gear keeping his identity intact but not quite weighing him down with the reinforcements of his usual suit. Tony considered getting him a pajama replica of his suit to walk around the tower in, but he figured that they weren’t really close enough for that.

“Date went well, then?” Cap asked tentatively.

“Horribly,” Tony said, grinning. “But that just means he gets to try again,” he added, smiling wistfully into his self-indulgent hot cocoa before handing another cup to Cap across the kitchen counter.

Cap smiled softly, warming his hands on the mug.

 

* * *

 

 Their next outing took place in the park, with Steve dressed down to something way more comfortable than their first date had allowed. Steve pointed out some familiar landmarks where he and his old friend used to play, talking about how much of it had changed, but that a lot of it was still really beautiful, worth seeing in this little patch of paradise in the middle of such a bustling city.

Their quiet walk was interrupted when Steve seemed to notice something over his shoulder, and Tony turned to find some shady looking paparazzo trying to get shots of them walking together. He wondered how long the guy had been following them, sighing.

“Well shit,” Tony said. “I can get Pepper to shut them down before it prints, don’t worry about it touching you.”

“What? What do you mean?” Steve asked, bewilderedly looking back to Tony.

“Figure you wouldn’t want your face plastered all over the tabloids,” Tony said. “They never have anything flattering to say about my dates, not after they think I dumped Pep a little while back.”

“Dumped—you two were involved?” Steve said, surprised.

“Nope. But our sordid love affair was everyone’s favorite fluff piece for at least a year, when it came to the business,” Tony said.

“If it bothers you…” Steve said.

“Me? Ha, no, I’ve been dealing with worse than this for years. Don’t worry about me,” Tony said, smiling brightly. “But I don’t want this to threaten your job, your life. Unless you grew up in it, getting cameras shoved in your face when you’re out jogging or trying to get to work is never pleasant. Not even when you grew up in it, but at least I’m used to it, you know?”

“It’s fine, Tony,” Steve said, taking his hand and taking him by surprise. “I mean, if you feel like it’ll affect you negatively, go ahead and get Ms. Potts to cut them off. But I’m not ashamed to be seen around you, nor am I worried about people knowing about our... stepping out. Dating.”

He blushed prettily. Tony grinned slowly, reaching over and taking Steve’s hand in his.

“It’ll be tough for Pep to try and cover it up, if I’m being honest. We live in the internet age, after all,” Tony said. “But if you’re sure, I’m not ashamed of, ha, stepping out with you, either. You’re great, really. Haven’t had anyone as sweet as you.”

Steve’s eyes widened comically. “You’re kidding me,” he said.

“I got gifts, sure,” Tony said, shrugging. “Got a lot of nice dinners. But I don’t think anyone ever really got shy hoping I’d like them unless they want something from me. Which, call me optimistic, are vibes I’m not getting from you. But hey, if I’m misreading this, you can always opt out.” He looked down at their joined hands, sighing internally. “No hard feelings.”

Steve brought their hands up and kissed Tony’s knuckles, in full view of where they both knew the not-so-subtle cameraman was hanging out.

“No hard feelings,” Steve repeated, smiling wryly, and Tony grinned, pulling Steve into their first proper kiss—a gentle, but lingering press of lips, the first of many.

 

* * *

 

  _STARK’S NEW SQUEEZE? A DIFFERENT KIND OF BUSTY BLOND._

The headline had Captain America— _Captain goddamn America—_ in stitches, laughing full-bellied that would have made Tony ecstatic at any other time, had it not been at the expense of That Guy He Really Liked Who Liked Him. He folded his arms, trying to keep a serious face on while Captain Goddamn America lost it in front of him.

“You can’t possibly think this isn’t hilarious,” Cap said after wiping his eyes.

“What passes for journalism these days is the world’s greatest joke, I’ll admit,” Tony said, “but not when it might make the nicest guy I’ve ever dated rethink stepping out with me again.”

Cap sobered immediately, putting the tabloid face down on the table.

“I grew up with this bullshit—excuse my French—so I know the difference between mostly harmless speculation and an actual PR nightmare, but it’s not something everyone can handle. Couldn’t blame a guy if he gets tired of having his life and privacy invaded because someone wants to get at me,” Tony went on.

“If he’s half as great as you say, then he wouldn’t let a little inconvenience get in the way of being with you,” Cap said seriously.

“Even decent people have a limit, Cap,” Tony said, shaking his head. “And I actually really like the guy, so I don’t want to be chasing him away with one too many camera lenses from idiots hiding in his bushes.”

“Throw a pebble in any direction and you’re liable to hit a kid with a camera built into their smart phone,” Cap remarked, shrugging. “I don’t think he isn’t aware of the kind of attention he’ll be getting, dating a genius superhero like Tony Stark. Maybe he’s deemed the risk worthwhile, and you’re worried over nothing.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Tony said, laughing as he buried his face into a couch pillow. “You should be dating this guy, not me. You’re both too… good.”

“Between you and the busty blond, Steve Rogers isn’t the one I’d want to be dating, Tony,” Cap said softly. Tony looked up, startled, but Cap smiled warmly at Tony in a way that conveyed a thousand things at once.

“I didn’t….”

Cap shook his head, cutting Tony off. He stood, putting a friendly hand on Tony’s shoulder that warmed way more than the point of contact.

“Enjoy your next date, Tony. You deserve someone who can make you happy. And who doesn’t hide behind a shield and a mask to feel like he belongs in this era,” Cap said, walking away before Tony could argue the point.

Well, shit.

If someone told Tony Stark not five minutes ago that Captain America was attracted to him, actually wanted to maybe date him, he would’ve laughed so hard he’d crash into the Chrysler if he was flying the suit.

And if that same someone told him he’d reject _Captain fucking America_ for an earnest, passionate twenty-something hipster artist from Brooklyn if he was asked, he’d have just crashed the suit into them.

But life was funny that way, Tony mused, smiling to himself at the thought of seeing Steve Rogers again, wondering how their next date might pan out.

 

* * *

 

 The next date was infamous in the Avengers Tower, if only because Steve Rogers somehow found a way to get a teddy bear the size of the Hulk into one of the upper floor conference rooms, along with a plethora of flowers, gifts, and chocolate, like something out of a frankly offensive Valentine’s catalogue.

There were heart streamers.

Heart. Streamers.  

“I hate that I love it,” Tony muttered as he looked around. Once he figured out that it was all Steve’s doing, he had to question every single Avenger present in the tower to figure out who it was that helped his maybe-boyfriend (was he his boyfriend? They’d been on two dates, but this had to mean they were boyfriends, right?) sneak an impossible number of cheesy romantic gifts into their totally secure tower.

It was Jan who admitted to being an accessory to this crime against reasonably subdued acts of affection and normal-sized bears, and she grinned when she said she had one more gift for him.

With her access and free run of the upper floors of the tower, Tony shouldn’t have been so surprised to find one of the elevators open and reveal Steve Rogers, dressed in a baby blue dress shirt under a gray, figure-hugging vest, looking both shy and proud in equal measure.

“Why,” Tony greeted, letting himself be swept into Steve’s surprisingly strong arms and hoisted up onto the conference table turned dinner setting.

“For a man who built one of the tallest towers in Manhattan and made it look like the head of a llama, you seem so surprised by people going the extra mile for you,” Steve remarked, kissing Tony in-between strings of words.

Tony fell silent, looking around the room at the evidence of Steve’s personal mission to make him feel special. Steve’s face fell, looking at Tony’s pensive expression and stepping back just far enough to look Tony in the eye, if he’d just look up.

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked quietly.

“You know, nobody’s actually ever done something like this for me,” Tony said, shaking his head at the oversized chocolate box and the giant bear. “I mean… I’ve gotten big gifts, but they were all… you know.” He sighed. “This is gonna make me sound like the biggest douchebag ever, so brace yourself.”

Steve threw him a bemused look, waiting for him to continue. That his hands were still curled over Tony’s hips gave him some comfort.

“I got… cars. Obscenely luxurious watches. Any jewelry someone could get away with giving me. Literal gold leaf shaved onto truffle ice cream. The most expensive things, the most expensive parties, and nothing I’d ever really need to own. You’d think I’d be grateful. But at some point after the fifth limited edition Rolex that I was never going to wear, I figured out that none of it was really for _me._ So I’m not used to looking at everything in a room full of gifts and actually feeling good about myself.”

Steve smiled softly, pressing his forehead into Tony’s. Tony smiled ruefully.

“You know, Captain America just told me he’d totally date me if I wasn’t already taken,” he said, tone wry. Steve chuckled, but he sounded a little strained.

“How can I compete with Captain America?” he said, only half joking.

“Well Captain America never got me a giant teddy bear,” Tony said. “Seriously though, how in the hell did you get that to fit in the elevator?”

“Miss Van Dyne was very understanding,” Steve said, shrugging. “Also the service elevator has way more space.”

“You’re kind of insane, you know that?” Tony laughed.

“You like it,” Steve said, clearly going for ribbing, but his tone was a lot softer and a lot more unsure than he seemed to intend, and it warmed Tony up significantly. He slipped his arms over Steve’s shoulders and sighed.

“I do. I really do,” Tony assured, and Steve’s smile seemed to light up the room. Tony slipped off the table, still keeping contact with Steve, and took a survey of the room, before stopping on the box of chocolates and the gift marked with Tony’s name. He then looked to the setup of two melting pots and fancy metal skewers on the table beside where he’d been sitting.

“Why fondue?” Tony asked, amused.

“I’ve never tried fondue.”

“And I guess you plan to eat half the chocolates in that box, too?”

“Well you can’t finish all of it on your own,” Steve said, his smile ever-widening.

“I see your game, Rogers,” Tony said, pointing his finger accusingly. He then made an imperious gesture, pointing to the table. “Get the chocolate and cheese melting, I’m gonna take a look at _my_ presents and _my_ chocolate and _maybe_ consider sharing them.”

He yelped when he felt a smack to his ass as he turned away, but when he looked back, Steve looked perfectly innocent, even whistling as he started setting up the assortment of food he’d brought, fruits and crackers and vegetables to dip. He couldn’t hide the red of his ears, though, and Tony was glad he wasn’t looking at him, else he would see the too-wide grin on Tony’s own face, his giddiness keeping it plastered there as he moved to where his gifts and chocolate seemed buried in the gorgeous flowers that turned the room into a veritable jungle.

He then noticed, off to the side, a slightly wrinkled Cosmo magazine, and surreptitiously opened it up to find one of its headlines—“The Dos and Don’ts of Dating: How To Make Those First Dates Perfect!”—with a couple of handy notes scrolled beneath.

Under Dos was the recipe for a perfect date, which had been crossed out with fervor—unsurprising, when Tony realized that it was exactly the formula Steve had followed for _their_ first date, which had been mostly an awkward disaster that would’ve chased him away if he wasn’t already invested spending more time with the adorable, highly intelligent, unfairly hot blond.

Tony had to force down his snort of disbelief when he found the other column listing the Don’ts of dating, and found a relatively accurate description of an over-the-top, too-eager cheesefest of a date that would _definitely drive your prospective partner away if they knew you were more invested in this than they were._

Good thing they lucked out, then, because at this point Tony was sure it was too late for him and Steve now—they liked each other way too much to be worried about the little things. Or in the bear’s case, the absolutely massive things that could only fit into the service elevator.

Making sure he put the magazine back in its exact spot, Tony grabbed two boxes—one of chocolate and one of a mysterious gift—and made his way back to the table, where Steve had just begun to figure out how to melt everything without setting the tablecloth on fire.

 

* * *

 

 Jan’s claim that Tony was an idiot was probably a valid one, he reflected as he found himself in the Avengers common room, a very familiar copy of Cosmo left on the coffee table.

“So how long did you know Captain America was my boyfriend?” Tony wondered when Jan walked over from the kitchen bearing the gift of fresh caffeine.

“How long did I what?” Jan said, her eyes widening when Tony’s words seemed to click. “Here, take this before I drop it in shock and alarm,” she said, handing Tony his cup of coffee.

Okay, so Jan didn’t really have any room to talk, then.

Instead of answering, Tony walked over to the coffee table and gestured to the wrinkled, somewhat rolled up Cosmopolitan he’d seen about three times by now.

“Oh, that? Cap was curious when I was flipping through it, said he wanted some _modern dating tips_ that wasn’t coming straight from the internet. Thought he wanted to woo some twenty-first century lady with it, but either he hasn’t tried or he’s just that good at hiding his personal life, because I haven’t seen anyone around that he might be interested in,” Jan said. “Well, apart from you, but you were already going out with Steve, so I’m pretty sure he didn’t want to step on any toes.”

It was at that moment Captain America entered, yawning widely, wearing the hilarious yet comfortable pajama suit Jan had designed to take the place of his costume, complete with the cowl that covered most of his face, made from a much lighter fabric than his reinforced helmet.

“Hey Steve,” Tony said as he passed. Jan, to her credit, had no verbal reaction, though her face cycled through an interesting journey of emotions before settling on observant interest as she watched Cap through narrowed eyes.

“Hey, Tony,” Cap said in seemingly automatic response, still trying to blink sleep away as he shuffled to the kitchen. He’d once been the type to be up at four in the morning to train and jog, but the more relaxed he got around the others, the more sleep he finally got, allowing for a couple more lazy mornings than usual.

It was only when he got the milk out for a bowl of cereal that he registered the looks his fellow Avengers were giving him.

“Uh.”

Jan broke out into an absolutely ecstatic, almost manic grin. Tony just shook his head, walking over and planting a kiss on Captain America’s slightly opened mouth, leaving him even more slack-jawed when he pulled away.

“So, I was thinking we could go to the park again,” Tony said casually, as Captain America, aka Steve Rogers, looked between Tony, Jan, and the magazine on the table, and seemed to put two and two together. He then sighed, pulling off the pajama cowl to reveal Tony’s Boyfriend Steve, hair mussed from the not-helmet.

“Sure, Tony. Sounds perfect,” Steve said, smiling.

 

* * *

 

The giant bear (which still held place of pride in the Avengers common area) was a Captain America bear. 

A Captain America Bear. From Steve Rogers.

Tony was a moron. 

 

* * *

 

 Nothing really changed with the revelation of Captain America’s Totally Secret Identity That Tony Could’ve Figured Out If He’d Just Asked S.H.I.E.L.D., except that now Tony had a context for Steve’s love of old buildings and the fact that he was a wellspring of information on Brooklyn and New York’s more historical aspects, as well as new insight into Captain America as the young man he grew up as rather than the symbol he’d been turned into.

Still, when cameras started coming out to catch Tony with the new squeeze he (surprisingly! The tabloids would say) hadn’t gotten tired of, Tony looked to Steve, wondering if he was nervous about anything getting out, or if it’d be tougher for him to keep his identity under wraps with photos of him plastered all over the internet and on printed page.

But then Steve leaned over, whispering something in Tony’s ear, and they both grinned at each other, making their way to where they were in clear view of the cameras, both from guys trying to make a quick buck and kids with phones who just wanted to prove they really saw what they were tweeting about.

 

* * *

 

 Their impromptu photo shoot, reminiscent of ridiculously cheesy wedding, pregnancy, or prom photos, went viral, on the very same day. Eventually, about a year or so later, with Captain America eventually revealing himself to the public, a professional one found itself on the latest issue of the Cosmopolitan, along with an article detailing how America’s favorite superhero celebrity power couple got together.

 

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/160239946@N03/33925558768/in/photostream/)

[ by acachette](https://acachette.tumblr.com)

 


End file.
